Traffic control sign

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an improved traffic control sign. More particularly, it relates to a sign similar to that of my U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,674, issued July 30, 1968, with an improvement to prevent damage to the movable wing portions of the sign by vandals forcing the rotation of the wings.

United States Patent 1 1 1 1 3,741,147 Downing June 26, 1973 TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGN 2,194,818 3 1940 Book 116/63 P x 1 1 west 28:82; 4122; 148:1. 11%; slrectTulsaokla- 74107 3,394,674 7/1968 Downing 116/63 R [22] Filed: Aug. 3, 1972 Prima Examiner-Louis .1. Ca ozi l l.N 77 ,5 P. [2 1 App 0 2 Attorney-James R. Head and Paul H. Johnson [52] U.S. Cl 116/63 R, 40/35, 116/114,

- 340/130 [57] ABSTRACT y :4 This invention relates to an improved traffic control ii sign. More particularly, it relates to a sign similar to 40/35 ig that of my U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,674, issued July 30, 1968, with an improvement to prevent damage to the [56] References Cited movable wing portions of the sign by vandals forcing UNITED STATES PATENTS the rotation of the'wings. 1,294,130 2/1919 Lou h 40 35 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGN CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT This invention is an improvement on my U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,674, entitled TRAFFIC SIGN, issued July 30, 1968.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is in the field of improved traffic control signs. More particularly the invention relates to a sign for use in traffic control or the like, including means whereby upon actuation, the sign unfolds two hinged wings to display a traffic directory signal, and upon subsequent actuation folds to conceal the message, or to display a different message.

This application is an improvement of my U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,674 and the text of that patent is included in this application by reference.

In the prior art, as represented by my U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,674, a motor is provided to actuate the rotation of two wing panels which are attached on either side of a central rectangular panel so that when the wings are open a prerecorded message is visible, and when the panel wings are closed, that is, folded over in contiguous position across the front of the central panel, the message is covered. In general the wings are preferably approximately half the width of the central panel so that in the closed position no portion of the face of the central panel is visible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a principal object of this invention to provide a means by which the side panels can be actuated by motor means (as in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,674), but to provide a flexibility in the operating means so that vandals who attempt to open the wings after the motor has closed them, will be prevented from breaking the fastening of the wings to the hinge shaft and vice versa, when the wings are open, it will permit movement of the wings without breaking any part or connection.

In my prior invention U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,674, a chain member operates a sprocket. which is attached firmly to a hinge shaft, to which the wing panels are fastened. When the motor drive turns the sprocket and the shaft, the wing panels would be either in an open position or a closed position. Torque applied to the wing panel would therefore be transmitted directly to the drive mechanism, which because of its construction did not permit rotation of the hinge shaft.

In this invention the sprocket rotates freely on the hinge shaft so that the motor drive simply operates the sprocket. There is a radial arm which is fastened to the sprocket and turns with it. There is a second radial arm which is spaced longitudinally from the first radial arm and which is fastened rigidly to the hinge shaft. There is a helical spring surrounding the hinge shaft in the space between the two radial arms. One end of the spring operatively presses against the first arm and the second end of the spring operatively presses against the second arm. As the sprocket is turned by the drive motor the first arm turns with the sprocket, causing the first end of the spring to move with it, and correspondingly the second end of the spring because of the torque in the spring, moves in the same direction. This causes the second arm to move and therefore to rotate the wing shaft and with it the wing panel.

In this construction since the wing panel is not connected rigidly to the sprocket and the drive motor, it can be forced to rotate against the torque of the helical spring. Therefore when undue pressure is applied to the wing panel causing it to rotate with the wing shaft, it can rotate without breaking any part of the mechanism. The torque of the spring is sufficient so that the wing panels will follow the rotation of the sprocket as in my earlier invention. However, when undue force is offered against rotation, the wing panel will rotate without breaking any connection between the sprocket and the wing panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects of the invention and a better understanding of the principles and details of the invention will be evident from the following description taken in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 represent the plan and elevation views of the drive mechanism of this invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates, in cross section, thedetails of the drive system for one wing panel.

FIG. 4 is taken from my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,674 and shows the general configuration of the sign.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 4, which represents the prior art as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,674, the sign of this invention is indicated generally by the numeral 10. The sign is supported on a post 12 or by other means. It consists basically of a rectangular, verticallysupported, planar center panel 14 presenting a sign bearing face on one side thereof, adaptable to have a portion of the traffic control message imprinted thereon. There are first and second rectangular, planar, wing panels 16A and 168 each pivotally supported at a vertical edge thereof to opposite vertical edges of the center panel. An actuating mechanism is contained in a covered enclosure 18 on top of the sign. This mechanism rotates the wing panels 16A and 168 to a first position shown in FIG. 4, wherein they are coplanar with the center panel 14 to display a traffic control message printed across the three coplanar panels 16A, 14 and 16B. The second position is not illustrated, but is the situation when the wing panels are rotated about their edge axes and are folded over in contiguous parallel position with the center panel. In general, the width of the wing panels 16A, 16B is substantially one-half the width of the center panel 14, so that the two wing panels completely cover and hide the message printed on the inner faces of the three panels.

This invention is primarily concerned with the improvements in the drive mechanism, so that much of the detail of the remainder of the apparatus, disclosed generally in FIG. 4, will not be described, but reference will be made to the U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,674, which describes the elements in detail, and which patent is made a part of this application by reference.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a plate 23 is shown which forms the bottom portion of the mechanism 18 of FIG. 4. A motor 36 is supported to the underside of this plate, having a shaft 38 which drives a disc 40, which is fastened to the shaft 38. This disc 40 carries a cam plate 66 which is fastened to one side. Also, by

means of a screw 50, the disc 40 supports and drives one end of a bar 48 which is attached at its other end to screw 52, which is fastened to a rocker arm 42. The arm 42 is fastened rotatably at its first end 42A to the plate 23. At its second end 48 it has a cylindrical, small diameter extension 42C.

The two wing panels 16A and 16B are attached by hinges 13 to the center panel 14 and are controlled in rotation by short arms 74 about the axis of the hinge. This is clearly shown in FIG. 3. The arm 74 is part of a short wing shaft 28, which is journaled in a bushing 70 which is attached to the plate 23 at point 72. The arm 74 can be attached to the wing panel by means of bolts through the openings 76, or by other means.-

Each of the side panels is controlled by a similar apparatus, so that description will be made of only one apparatus, such as is illustrated in FIG. 3. A sprocket 30 is arranged to rotate freely on the wing shaft 28 adjacent to the support bushing 70. A radial arm 78 is centered over the shaft 28 and is pinned rigidly to the sprocket by means of pin 79. The arm 78 has an end portion 80 that is bent in a perpendicular direction, which makes it substantially parallel to the shaft 28. Thereis a second radial arm 82 which is fastened rigidly at point 86 to a bushing 84 which slides on the shaft 28 and is rigidly pinned thereto by means of a pin 96. This radial arm 82 has an end portion 88 which is similarly bent at 90. The length of .arm 82 is greater than that of arm 78 so that there is no conflict between the rotation of the two arms. A' helical wire spring 90 is placed over the bushing 84 concentric with the shaft 28. The spring 90 has two long ends 92 and 94 which, under the torque in the spring, tend to move toward each other. As they come together they press against the tips 80 and 88 of the two arms 78 and82, rotating one with respect to the other until they are brought into line, one with the other.

The arm 78 is driven by the sprocket. As it turns, in one direction or the other, it presses on one end of the spring or the other, rotating the spring. The second end of the spring, following the driven end, presses against the second arm' 82 rotating it in accordance with the rotation of the first arm, so that they move together. The torque of the spring is greater than the friction in the wing mechanism under normal working conditions.

It will be clear, however, that the operating relationship between the arm 78 and the arm 82 is through the torqueof the spring 90, so that even though the normal position of the wing is as shown in FIG. ,4, the wing panel 16A could be rotated, turning the arm 82 and forcing one end or the other of the spring 90. In this way any exterior force, accidental or otherwise, that tends to rotate the wing portion without having it correspondingly driven by the motor can cause the wing portion to rotate against the torque of the spring. On release of the force on the wing panel, the spring torque will cause it to resume its true position in accordance with the drive mechanism. In this way excessive torque cannot be applied to the wing panel to brake the drive mechanism at its weakest point.

There is a chain 32 broken into two pieces, which are joined by a metal strip 34.4 between two ends, and by means of threaded rods 35A, 35B carrying the right and left hand threads respectively, and a long threaded nut 34B. Turning the nut 34B effectively, changes the tension in the chain mechanism. The chain is connected in a FIG. 8 shape with the two sprockets. When the chain is traversed by moving the bar 34A, for example, the two sprockets will rotate in opposite directions simultaneously. There is an opening 44 in the strap 34A through which the cylindrical extension 42C of the bar 42 is inserted, and into which it is locked by means of a cotter pin, or other means.

When the motor 36 is energized the shaft 38 will rotate and the arm 48 will be driven by the pin 50 in the disc 40 attached to the motor shaft 38. This will rotate the rocket arm 42 and will correspondingly traverse the chain 32 by the connection of the rocker arm to the bar 34A. There is a limited angle of rotation of the rocker arm 42 which is determined by the radius of the screw 40 in the disc 40. This angle of rotation is designed, by position of the screw 52 along the arm 42, to rotate the wing shaft 28 by 180. Actually, in this invention, because of the spring coupling between the drive sprockets and the wing shafts 28, it is possible to slightly overdrive the sprockets in both directions. The wing shafts 28 are thus held against prearranged stops, against the torque of the spring 90. When the wings are in the coplanar position they are stopped by means of a hub 98 fastened by means of the screw 99, against which the short arm 74 presses.

It is seen therefore that the spring coupling design of this invention provides two important benefits. It pro vides ease of adjustment and construction of the entire mechanism whereby the precision of rotation of the rocker arm 42 is not required since the drive can be overextended. Also, the panels can be controlled by stops such as 98, or such as the entirely closed position when they overlap and are in contact with the center panel. These are the two principal advantages of the improvement of this invention.

'Each panel may be forcibly moved independently of the other, whether the sign is in the opened or the closed position. This feature reduces the chance of the sign being damaged by vandals. In addition, if one panel freezes in position the other will still operate. While a complete message change is not achieved by the operation of only one panel, nevertheless, one half of a sign is better than none. The sign can be printed in such a way to provide one message when the panels are closed and another message when the panels are opened.

While no detail has been shown on the motor control system and other details of construction of the sign of this invention, such details are identical with those shown in my patent and since that description is made part of this application by reference, there is no need for further description of the details of the sign system and reference is made to the patent for these details.

While the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity it is manifest that many changes may be made in the details of construction and the arrangement of components. It is understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments set forth herein by way of exemplifying the invention, but the invention is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claim or claims, including the full range of equivalency to which each element or step thereof is entitled.

What is claimed:

1. In a traffic control sign including:

a rectangular vertically supported planar center panel;

at least one rectangular vertical planar wing panel, pivotally supported at a vertical edge thereof to a vertical edge of said center panel; electric motor means having a drive shaft supported to said center panel; wing shaft means joumaled in a support plate mounted in a horizontal position to said center panel, said wing panel attached to said wing shaft; a sprocket freely rotatable about said wing shaft; chain means looped over said sprocket; means coupling the rotation of said motor shaft to transport said chain, whereby said sprocket is rotated; and means of controllably starting and stopping saidmotor, wherein upon energization of said motor in: -one instance said sprocket and said wing shaft andzsaid wing panel are rotated in one direction, and upon subsequent energization of said motor in a second instance they are rotated in the opposite direction; the improvement comprising:

helical spring drive means operatively connected between said sprocket means and said wing shaft, said wing panel being fastened to said wing shaft, whereby upon energization of said motor said sprocket will be rotated driving said wing panel through the medium of said helical spring means. 2. A traffic control sign as in claim 1 including two wing panels, each rotatably supported at one vertical .edge to opposite vertical edges of said center panel.

3. The remotely controlled sign as in claim 1 in which said spring means comprises:

a. a first radialram attached to said sprocket; said sprocket rotating freely on said wing shaft; b. a second radial arm, spaced along said wing shaft from said first arm, attached to said wing shaft; c. helical spring means surrounding said wing shaft in the space between said radial arms, first and second ends of said spring means operatively connected to said first and second arms;

whereby when said sprocket is rotated, said first arm will rotate, causing one end of said spring to be rotated, causing said second end of said spring to be rotated in the same direction, and causing said second arm to be rotated, causing said wing shaft and said wing panel to be rotated.

4. A traffic control sign according to claim 2 includa traffic control message imprinted on the back surfaces of said two wing panels, whereby when said wing panels are closed upon said center panels, said traffic control message imprinted upon the back surface of said wing panels is displayed.

5. A traffic control sign according to claim 1 wherein said means of controllably starting and stopping said motor includes:

a switch having electrical connection with said motor; and

a cam affixed to said motor shaft actuating said arm.

* l il i 

1. In a traffic control sign including: a rectangular vertically supported planar center panel; at least one rectangular vertical planar wing panel, pivotally supported at a vertical edge thereof to a vertical edge of said center panel; electric motor means having a drive shaft supported to said center panel; wing shaft means journaled in a support plate mounted in a horizontal position to said center panel, said wing panel attached to said wing shaft; a sprocket freely rotatable about said wing shaft; chain means looped over said sprocket; means coupling the rotation of said motor shaft to transport said chain, whereby said sprocket is rotated; and means of controllably starting and stopping said motor, wherein upon energization of said motor in one instance said sprocket and said wing shaft and said wing panel are rotated in one direction, and upon subsequent energization of said motor in a second instance they are rotated in the opposite direction; the improvement comprising: helical spring drive means operatively connected between said sprocket means and said wing shaft, said wing panel being fastened to said wing shaft, whereby upon energization of said motor said sprocket will be rotated driving said wing panel through the medium of said helical spring means.
 2. A traffic control sign as in claim 1 including two wing panels, each rotatably supported at one vertical edge to opposite vertical edges of said center panel.
 3. The remotely controlled sign as in claim 1 in which said spring means comprises: a. a first radial ram attached to said sprocket; said sprocket rotating freely on said wing shaft; b. a second radial arm, spaced along said wing shaft from said first arm, attached to said wing shaft; c. helical spring means surrounding said wing shaft in the space between said radial arms, first and second ends of said spring means operatively connected to said first and second arms; whereby when said sprocket is rotated, said first arm will rotate, causing one end of said spring to be rotated, causing said second end of said spring to be rotated in the same direction, and causing said second arm to be rotated, causing said wing shaft and said wing panel to be rotated.
 4. A traffic control sign according to claim 2 including: a traffic control message imprinted on the back surfaces of said two wing panels, whereby when said wing panels are closed upon said center panels, said traffic control message imprinted upon the back surface of said wing panels is displayed.
 5. A traffic control sign according to claim 1 wherein said means of controllably starting and stopping said motor includes: a switch having electrical connection with said motor; and a cam affixed to said motor shaft actuating said switch in response to the angular position of said shaft.
 6. A traffic control sign according to claim 1 wherein said means coupling the rotation of said motor shaft to transport said chain includes: a rocker arm pivotally supported at one end and affixed to said chain at the other end whereby the pivotation of said rocker arm transports said chain; a crank shaft extending from and rotated by said motor shaft; and a connecting arm having one end pivotally affixed to said crank shaft and the other affixed to said rocker arm. 